The door creaked open as he furiously wrote down his calculations on a paper, the knuckles of his hand turning white from the intense force he used to grip his pen. A faint waft of pizza entered his room, his stomach grumbling in protest when he remembered he hadn't eaten dinner yet.

“Hey, man. We got pizza. Want some?” Keeho bundled into his room, pizza plate in his hands as he shoved the plate near his face. Jiung watched the older man nearly plant the pizza onto his face, scowling.

“Dude, just ask me normally. There's no need to shove a plate to my face.” He said as he reluctantly accepted the offering, catching the older grin in response.

“You've been moping in your room since evening, bro. Girls problem?” Keeho asked as he dragged him outside, wrapping an arm around his neck. Jiung merely shrugged, shaking his head.

“My shitty lab partner is a free rider. The bastard ghosted me so I have to do his part.” He grumbled.

The living room was rowdy as usual. He could see Jongseob and Soul having a match over Mario Kart as Theo laughed over Jongseob's character tripping over a shell and falling off the track while hitting Intak beside him. Intak seemed resigned to his fate, barely flinching as the oldest unintentionally beat him up.

The only thing that was out of the place was your presence, sitting calmly on the single couch as you watched the current match. You perked up as you saw him, holding up a hand in greeting.

“Hey, Jiung. I brought some pizzas over. Eat your fill.” You said as you sent a dazzling smile his way, making his heart beat a little faster. He gave you a smile of his own.

You are a cousin of Keeho's. You came over to Korea to study after finding out that you got into the same university as the latter. The man had introduced you to the group as soon as you settled in, seemingly excited to have a familiar presence in Korea.

You were a quick thinker, bold, empathetic and pretty. You were the same age as him but the way you spoke sounded much more mature than any other person his age. Jiung likes that about you, shows how sophisticated you are.

Despite that, it didn't take too long for you to open up to the group, revealing a mischievous, cheeky persona underneath all the calm and polite front you put up. You were basically a copy of Keeho. (Though Keeho was much worse.) Yet, he still likes that about you.

Right now you were sitting in the living room of their shared house, breathing the same air as him and eating the same food as him. The thought almost made him blush if he wasn't so exhausted over the issue with his lab partner.

“Make way guys. We got a tired man fighting for his life here.” Keeho announced dramatically as he pushed him down onto another couch, next to the one you were currently sitting on. He took a bite out of his pizza as Theo chimed in.

“Why's the long face? You got a problem?” The man asked, his eyes looking back and forth from the TV screen to Jiung's face. He simply nodded, swallowing down his dinner before starting to speak.

“My new lab partner is an asshole.” He grumbled. “He barely did any work, sent his part of the report late and now he ghosted me after I sent a text reminding him of his part.” Jiung gritted his teeth as he messed up his hair.

“And you know what he did during our lab period? He was frolicking with our female classmates, pretending to help them. He doesn't even know how to do titration. He kept messing up our reading so I had to redo all that shit.” He continued to rant, throwing his hands up in annoyance. Keeho had to quietly move away his plate, making a face as the former began to get more irritated.

Jiung proceeded to fume over his classmate as the others listened for over 30 minutes. Occasionally, he stopped to curse out the guy's entire bloodline before continuing his complaints about his attitude.

“He's a piece of shit. I swear I'm done with this guy. I'm switching my partner as soon as I'm done with this report.” He finished, taking a deep breath as all the anger seemed to seep away from him. He felt slightly better now, still annoyed but relieved that he got it all out of his system.

The guys merely gave him a sympathetic pat on the back. They knew how he was by now. He tends to complain and rage over things but he always gets it done. He just needed an ear (or ears in this case) to rant to before he got back to work. If he did need help though, he knew they got his back.

“You should get revenge, Jiung.” You chirped up suddenly, your smile mischievous as you leaned your head closer to his direction.

Jiung's eyebrows raised in question, prompting you to go on. “Let's egg his house.” You blurted out, your eyebrows wiggling with excitement as you grinned wider at his stunned face.

“Yo! That idea is lowkey fire.” Jiung could hear Keeho interjected, the man basically having the same mischievous expression as you right now. He scoffed as he turned to the latter. “Aren't you a law student? You should be the voice of reason right now instead of encouraging this thing.”

He rolled his eyes. “Dude, I'm not going to defend a guy who's clearly in the wrong. Besides, aren't you the one who's been crashing out about this issue for over 30 minutes just now?” Jiung just shrugged in response. “But I'm not going to get revenge just because of this. Isn't that too petty?”

Keeho landed a slap on his back, pulling the latter into a half hug as he dramatically replied. “Nothing is too petty in life, Jiung. We gotta do what we gotta do to protect our peace.” You chimed in, acting as exaggerated as your cousin. “Yeah. Besides, he doesn't deserve your consideration, Jiung.”

Jiung looked at them from back and forth, listening to your cooing and Keeho's coaxing as he narrowed his eyes.

“No.”

—---------------------------------

He found himself driving to his partner's house a few days after, his car bonnet full of egg cartons while you were sitting next to him, humming to the song on the radio. He couldn't believe it. He was supposed to be the rational one out of all of them yet here he was, egging someone's house as a revenge just because you had fluttered your eyes pleadingly at him.

God, was he that whipped for you?

“Did you manage to change your lab partner?” You piped up, adjusting your position so you were facing him halfway. Jiung threw a glance at your way, noting the cosy way you chose to dress tonight.

You were just wearing a shirt and sweatpants but the way your sweater was too big on you made you seem small. Jiung's heart fluttered as you made yourself comfortable in his car.

Almost like you belong there, right in his passenger seat.

“Yeah. I submitted our texts as evidence just to make sure my request got accepted.” Jiung coughed out, shaking off the thoughts about you from his head. He could see you nodded from the corner of his eyes, looking satisfied.

“Good because that's a terrible thing to be stuck with. I know I'll crash out if I have to work with someone like that.” You said as you hummed to yourself again. Jiung laughed. “Have you been stuck with a person like that?”

“Who hasn't?” You groaned, your hands gestured wildly as you recalled the story to him. “I had this one classmate who not only didn't do her part of the work but she even blamed me for it.”

Jiung chuckled as he listened to your rant, your hands getting more animated as you remembered the story. “She ended up not doing anything so I had to do all of the questions while she scrolled on her phone beside me. The worst part was she even scoffed at me. Like I was the one to blame for her incompetence!” You ended with a huff as Jiung laughed lightly.

“Man, at least in my case it was not that bad.” He replied, giving you a teasing grin. You reciprocated with a grin of your own, eyes twinkling as you looked at him. He could feel his face heat up in response, the tips of his ears turning red down to the end of his fingertips. He prayed the street lights were dimmed enough to mask it, feeling embarrassed at his lack of cool.

‘God, I'm pathetic.’ His mind said to him while you continued talking about your studies, jumping from one topic to another, unaware of his emotional turmoil.

They pulled up a few metres away from their destination. His eyes followed your excited steps to his bonnet, opening it. “Alright, Jiung. The plan is to egg the house then we escape.” You said, full of spirit.

He felt nervous. Despite his initial aversion going with your idea, he couldn't help but feel jittery. Partly because of you, partly because he wasn't really the type to do this kind of thing (being a STEM student didn't give him a lot of his time to have fun).

Hurling two cartons of eggs to a nearby bush was easy. The actual egging though? Jiung could feel his hand hesitate as he raised the egg above his head, aiming for the house. You were crouching down next to him, your perfume filling his lungs as he frowned from hesitation.

“Just do it.” You whispered, leaning closer to him for no apparent reason. Jiung grumbled in response. “This feels like a terrible idea.” The egg felt heavy in his hands, smooth and cold from the amount of time it sat in the blast of his car's AC.

“Revenge is best served cold. No pun intended.” You snickered before taking one egg for yourself. “You throw the first one and I'll follow you.” You said, grinning as you tried to convince him.

He took a deep breath, aiming once again. He let his hand move on its own, hurling the egg with all his might.

SPLAT!

The yolk slid down the door wetly before splattering onto the floor. He froze with you before a breathless giggle escaped his lips, followed by your quiet laugh.

“That felt good.” Jiung whispered, laughter still spilling out of his mouth. You passed him another egg as you also threw one onto the house, hitting the white wall.

He swore he blacked out after that moment, his hand throwing egg after egg on autopilot as you did the same, still snickering together. In their exhilarating trance, they barely noticed the light flickering on upstairs. Jiung was preparing to throw the last of their eggs when the front door opened.

“What the fuc-” SPLAT! They stopped as the egg that he threw landed directly onto his former lab partner's face, gasping quietly. “We need to bail right now.” You whispered urgently as you gestured to him to get up. Jiung barely flinched as his hand grabbed yours, pulling you out of the bus that they were hiding in and sprinting to the car.

“Hey! Stop right there!” They heard the guy cussing them out from afar yet they paid it no mind, their legs moving rapidly as the house became smaller behind them. They were laughing, feeling breathless from running but the adrenaline kept them going.

Jiung could feel his heart pounding, the weight of your hand felt right in his grip as your warmth seemed to spread across his entire body. Your laughter sounded like music to his ears, the melody was something that he was so familiar with. Twinkling, pleasant and free. Almost like it sounded like home.

Fuck, he's so whipped.

—-------------------------------

They ended up at a quiet gas station after escaping, the adrenaline melting into a mellow, comfortable feeling. You still had a smile on your face as he mirrored it with one of his own.

“See! I told you it's going to feel good after you get your revenge.” You giggled. “The face that he made when the egg landed on his face. Pity we didn't record any of it.” He laughed along with you as they recalled the prank.

“You're no better than Keeho.” He replied, shaking his head in amusement. You shrugged in reply, a mischievous smile on your face as your eyes sparkled. “Keeho learned from the best.”

The laughter faded into a comfortable silence. They stared at each other, a beaming smile on each of their faces as the quietness enveloped both of them. Neither of them rushed to fill the silence, seemingly content to soak in the serene feeling. Jiung couldn't help the way his eyes flitted from your eyes to your lips, gazing at the pinkish gloss coating them.

‘Soft.’ His mind supplied unhelpfully, prompting a blush spreading across his cheeks. He couldn't help it. Your lips looked plush on their own, curving softly to form a sweet smile that you were known for. He was certain they would taste like cocoa butter, the flavour of your favourite chapstick that you always use.

The man leaned in closer, unconsciously reducing the gap between them. His eyes trained firmly on her lips, his breath uneven and harsh as he nearly captured her lips with his own.

“Whoa! What are you doing?” Jiung could feel you jerking in alarm as he pulled away quickly. His head spinned from the weight of his action, guilt blooming in his heart when he realised what he had done.

“Fuck.” He cursed,running his hands in his hair. “Fuck. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to.” Words began to spill out of his mouth as he apologised. The feeling of shame started to brew in his chest, along with fear of losing you.

“I'm an asshole. I'm sorry. It wasn't my intention to make you uncomfortable.” He spiralled, barely looking at you now. His eyes were tightly shut, too ashamed to look at you.

‘Stop talking. Stop talking, idiot.’ His mind screamed at him, chaotic and loud. He replayed the scene immediately against his will. What was he thinking? You were just being nice. He was delusional to think that you would like him too. You never sent any signs that you would like him too. He's the one jumping into conclusion and trying to kiss someone without a warning. He's a creep, a pathetic fool who couldn't help himself.

“Jiung!” Your voice snapped him back into reality, your tone firm and calm yet the usual sweetness that always laced your words were gone. He couldn't help but to feel shame crawling up his neck again, suffocating him.

You gave him a small smile. “I know you don't mean it, Jiung. You're a good guy.” You placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a gentle squeeze. “I'm sorry but I just panicked when you started to lean closer.” You continued quietly.

“It's fine.” He croaked, a grimace on his face despite him trying his best to control it. “I shouldn't have assumed or tried to kiss you either way. It's disrespectful to you.” You merely bit your lip at his apology before shaking your head. “It's okay, Jiung.”

You kept your gaze downwards before clearing your throat to speak again. “It's not because I don't like you, by the way.” You said quickly, stumbling over your words as your eyes began to wander, looking at everything except him. Jiung stopped spiralling for a moment, picking up his head to look at you.

Under the dimmed lights of the gas station, Jiung could almost see the light pink dusting your cheeks as you fidgeted on your seat. He watched as you opened and closed your mouth a few times, struggling to find words. He almost felt bad for making you this unnerved.

“You don't have to say anything. We can forget everything that happened. It was my fault for forcing myself onto you anyway.” He tried to comfort you. Rejected or not, you were still an important person to him. He was not going to let you feel like shit just because he couldn't control his feelings. You seemed unsatisfied with him trying to brush it off and take the blame, an almost exasperated expression appearing on your face.

“I like you too, okay!”

Jiung froze as you blurted out the words, blinking blankly at you. His mind ran at 100 miles per minute to make sense of your words while you squirmed in your seat, flushing even more red by the minutes. His ears felt muffled. He felt like he had misheard you but if that's the case, why would you be blushing?

“I like you. Like so much.” You repeated as Jiung sat there like a deer in headlights. “I freaked out when you tried to kiss me because it's not everyday you get a guy that you're pining for trying to kiss you after you both egged his shitty classmate's house.” You began to ramble, your hands gestures getting wildly animated as you spiralled. Jiung continued to stare at you, his face vacant while his mind also spiralled along with you.

‘Holy shit?’ His brain pondered. ‘Since when? Why? Is this real? How long has it been? Am I dreaming? No. No. Don't think about it. I might cry if this is a dream. Holy shit. She likes me. Why would she like me? Stay calm. You're cool, Jiung. Oh god, Keeho gonna kill me if he knows. It's fine. It's fine. It's fine. IT IS FINE.’

“Jiung?” Your worried voice jerked him back to reality, turning his head to look at you. Jiung looked at you blankly before blurting out. “Keeho gonna bust my ass, isn't he?”

You stared at him in surprise before laughing, loud, unfiltered, almost warm with the way it spilled from your mouth to warm his whole being. He watched your head tilted back, your eyes crinkling into that familiar wrinkles that he loved so much and the way the melodious sounds came out from your lips squeezed his heart.

Your lips. His mind wandered again to the curve of your lips, the way it shone slightly from your lip gloss. The way it looked so soft. The way it was shaped to perfection, complimenting all of your other features. He leaned again unconsciously but this time, he stopped before you.

“Is this okay?” He whispered, watching as you realised how close he was to you. He could see your eyes wandered, from his eyes to his lips and back to his eyes again. Blush bloomed across your cheeks as he smirked from the realisation that you were also thinking of him.

“Yeah.” You breathed softly, almost shy as your hands came up to grip his shirt. Jiung closed the distance, gently catching your lips with his own as his hands slid around your waist.

‘Holy shit.’ His thoughts went into overdrive as the noise around them faded into the background. For a second, he forgot to think as he melted into the softness and gentle heat of your skin. Your lips were warm, soft like he expected. He could taste the cocoa butter flavour from your favourite chapstick, almost making him moan from dizziness.

He pulled back after a moment, just enough for the both of you to breathe as he rested his forehead against yours. He could see your eyes twinkling, shy smile decorating your now swollen lips while your hands still gripping firmly on his shirt. He let his hands come up to tuck a stray hair behind your ear, his fingers brushing gently across your cheeks.

“So, does Sunday sound fine to you?” He blurted out as you laughed, nodding your head.

It was times like these where studying at this fuckass, bumass, stupidass college felt worth it. You wandered near the fenced edge of the rooftop, feeling the warm metal bar under your arms and the cool breeze wafting through. Every time you visited the site, it always greeted you with a comforting silence in contrast to the hustle and bustle, heartbreak, and sorrow inside the classrooms. It truly was the best spot on the entire campus; the view was perfect, and when the sun hits, and everything seems golden, you feel like you’re a character from a coming-of-age indie film.

Not a lot of students went up here—maybe because it’s supposed to be closed off, but who is checking anyway? It’s usually just some people who come up to smoke, perhaps sneak a drink in before the building closes, but this time, you catch it at just the right time, where it’s just you, alone.

These past few weeks have seemed better, maybe thanks to a pretty boy you met on a blind date, perhaps? Jongseob was… mystifying, in the same way love is mystifying. He felt like a breath of fresh air when life felt suffocating; he was the embodiment of that feeling of finally lying down in bed after a long day.

You felt your phone vibrate. Speak of the devil—angel?—the man of the hour himself.

종섭 - wya ☁︎ - im at the rooftop 종섭 - at ur building? ☁︎ - yeah

Conversations with Jongseob never happened out of nowhere; he’d text when he knew your classes were over, inviting you to eat or game with him when he could.

종섭 - are you hungry?

You realized that you may have prioritized your precious alone time before grabbing a bite first.

☁︎ - a little 종섭 - come down

Behold, you could spot that blond boy from a mile away. Jongseob had his back to the wall, hands in the pockets of his loose gray sweatpants, waiting for you with a toothy smile. He waited by your side, walking to one of the gates to leave campus. 

“Where are we going?”

“Well, you said you were hungry. What do you wanna eat?”

Jongseob always looks you in the eye, even when he’s about to run into a pole on the sidewalk—that definitely hasn’t happened before.

“I’m craving some ramyun.”

He paused for a while, mouthing the words before actually saying them. 

“Do you want to eat ramyun at my place?”

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

Okay, a nice solo dorm, this dude has money. It’s a relatively big place, a messy queen-size bed, lots of space for clothes, a dining table good for four, a study area—that he definitely doesn’t just play League of Legends on—a large counter-space that you’re jealous of, and a whole shelf just for books. 

“Make yourself comfortable.”

You sat at one of the wooden chairs, giving you the perfect view of Jongseob as he took out two packs of instant ramyun and an assortment of cheese. He walked over to your seat, setting down his glasses on the dark table before taking his hoodie off, revealing his matching gray tank top. You attempted to avert your eyes, not sure where exactly to look, but ultimately they rested on his arms. He’s mysteriously toned for someone who doesn’t move away from his desk—like ever.

Jongseob grabbed a hair tie from one of his drawers, tied his long, unruly hair into a neat ponytail, and placed his rectangular glasses back on his face. God—you can’t believe you’re actually at his dorm, and he’s cooking food for you, this might all just be an amazing dream. Jongseob connected his phone to his speakers, switching songs from DPR LIVE to Daniel Caesar—yeah, you know what he’s doing.

“Do you eat anything other than instant food?”

You noted the number of instant ramyun packs on the counter.

“Hey, I eat a lot of meat too, y’know.” He said, turning to you as he waited for the water to boil.

Jongseob added two packs to the boiling water. He walked to the dining area and grabbed a stool to sit near you. You shifted to face him, and pieces of his bangs had slipped from his ponytail, framing his face.

“If you’re questioning my cooking skills now, there’s a convenience store right around here.”

“No, it’s fine, if I die, I die tonight.”

You both laughed, his eyes turning into crescents, and his smile that you wish you could imprint into your mind. Jongseob scanned your features, his fingers trembling, hesitating first before cautiously plucking a fallen eyelash on your cheek. 

“Make a wish.”

You closed your eyes, thinking of all the things you could wish for. Jongseob melted at your expression, your soft lips fluttering, obvious that you’re searching your mind for one wish. “I wish for us to forever be happy.” You opened your eyes, seeing him holding your eyelash on his delicate finger. You took a big breath in, blowing the eyelash off of him, sealing the wish.

It took everything in Jongseob not to grab your cheek and crash his lips against yours right then and there. He suddenly stood up, awkwardly making his way back to the boiling pot, continuing to prepare the ramyun, putting all the fixings in. You looked at him suspiciously, until your phone went off with a notification from your group chat.

✦  - yoh jongseobs baby where are youuu

You rolled your eyes at the message.

☁︎ - i may or may not be at someones dorm rn ✦  - WOAHHHHH HOLD ON

You set your phone to silent before they start to question you more. Jongseob beckoned you over to taste his creation, cooling off the dish first before feeding it to you. Your eyebrows rose in surprise.

“Not bad.”

“Not bad as in it’s good or not bad as in ‘I’m not dying tonight?’”

You chuckled.

“Not bad as in it’s good.”

He grabbed two bowls for both of you, giving a big serving, plating it extra pretty than he normally would. You took a seat once again as he served you, helping you with a glass of water. It felt a bit weird, how this life—this certain domesticity with him—just felt natural, like this was the missing piece. Time flees when you’re with him. In between bites, Jongseob showed you random cute videos he saved on his phone and talked about the cool things he learned from the latest books he read—that you don’t quite understand, but you smiled regardless.

Before you know it, it’s closer to midnight, and you’ve been at his dorm for hours now, moving from the dining table to sitting at his bed. 

“I want something sweet.”

Jongseob’s mind went somewhere it shouldn’t have at a hundred miles an hour. He fidgeted with the edge of his comforter before you spoke again.

“Does the convenience store near here have slushies or something?”

“Y-yeah. Umm… do you want to go?”

It was a short walk from his place, your knuckles brushing past each other, yet not pulling away. The shop was fairly big, frequented by nearby students scattered all over the store. Jongseob guides you towards the colorful sugary drinks.

“Red or blue?” He pointed at the two drink machines. 

You closed your eyes, eenie meenie miney mo-ing between the two options.

“Red.”

He filled up the two giant cups, paying for them at the counter. You both sat at the curb outside, illuminated only by the sign from the store. 

“Fuck, are my teeth blue?”

Jongseob bared his teeth at you, very obviously blue.

“No, no, not at all.”

“You’re laughing too much for me to believe that.”

You covered your mouth, afraid that your mouth was equally as colored.  He gripped your hand away, unable to keep your smile hidden.

“See! Look, even your tongue is bright red.”

“Well, your lips are blue too! You look like you made out with a smurf!”

“What? Ew!”

He playfully smacked your shoulder, laughing at the absurdity. You both took turns sipping your own beverages, talking about what plans for the summer you had. You spot Jongseob’s drink, almost empty, before you had the chance to taste it.

“Jongseob~ can I try yours? I wanna make mine purple.”

He fumbled for words, working it up in himself to inch closer to your face. 

“I can think of another way you can make yours purple.”

Jongseob slowly leaned in, giving you time to refuse and pull back—but, why would you? His lips trembled against yours, his bold words beforehand contrasting with his actions. You took the initiative, turning to one side to deepen the kiss, and he responds just the same. He pulled away for a moment, and you opened your eyes to see why. 

“Sorry, these are in the way.”

He took off his pair of eyeglasses, tossing them to the side, not caring if they got damaged because all he cared about was your lips being on his. Jongseob finds the confidence to caress your cheek, pulling you in again, alternating between your top and bottom lip. Barely above shallow gasps, he licks your bottom lip, and you gladly accept. He tastes vaguely fruity, though unbelievably sweet. It’s sloppy, saliva starting to gather at the corners, pulling away.

You leaned your foreheads together, not saying a word, simply being there on bated breaths.

taglistˊ˗ @seonghwaswifeuuuu , @seomisaho

"I think he likes you." Your co-worker would say, giggling.

You shook your head at her ridiculous statement, continuing your work as you felt his gaze on you, watching you intently.

A few weeks later, you mustered up enough courage to talk to him. As you made way timidly towards his table, your heart beating frantically, fearing his reaction.

"Excuse me? You come around a lot but I haven't caught your name yet. Mine's Y/N and I just hope we can be friends?"

His smile was beautiful. Too beautiful to be human. Yet his eyes were carrying something, like sadness and longing but you couldn't pinpoint it.

"The name is Hyunjin. Nice to meet you."

"Why do you keep coming to our café even though it's miles away from your place?"

Hyunjin looked up from his cup to stare at you, lips lifting in a smile. He pushed the cup away from him, finger drumming on the table as you waited for him to answer.

"Your coffee is delicious. They remind me of someone. That's all."

You frowned at his answer. Hyunjin seems to notice that you were not satisfied with his answer yet he didn't say anything.

"Why don't you ask that person to make your coffee then? Did you guys fight or something?

You asked, absentmindedly stirring your coffee. Hyunjin went quiet for a while before opening his mouth.

"She died a few years ago."

You stopped stirring, guilt starting to fill your being. You grabbed his outstretched hand, nearly knocking the cups over.

"I'm sorry. That's rude of me. I don't mean to bring that up." "It's okay."

Hyunjin smiled lightly, patting your hand as you kept on apologizing. You eventually picked up your head to look into his eyes, fighting back his gaze.

A wave of nostalgia suddenly hit you. You didn't know why but his eyes seem familiar somehow. Like you already saw them before.

"Y/N? Are you there?"

You jerked out from your trance as Hyunjin waved his hand in front of your face. He looked worried.

"I'm okay. It's just I think I remember something when I stared into your eyes." "Oh. That's good."

And the next day, he didn't come back.

People think being immortal must be nice. You won't die. You won't get hurt. You could live for so long and you won't ever get old. It's a way of avoiding death, the thing that people feared so much.

But not for Hyunjin. If he had to choose, he chooses death.

For starters, he needs to see all his loved ones die with his own eyes and it will continue to haunt his memory forever. He can't stay in one area for a long time just in case anyone noticed him. No matter how much the town means to him, he had moved away to avoid causing a ruckus.

He needs to change his identity often which is the only way so people won't recognize him and sell him out. He hates being immortal.

Not to mention, it's hard for him to fall in love. Hyunjin has been falling in love with the same person every time for 400 years now. No matter how much you changed over time, he still falls for you.

It hurts to see you falling in love, getting married, having kids, and hearing you passed away. He could have approached you yet he knows he won't stand a chance with you and the thought of seeing you dying hurts him.

Yet, this was the first time you approached him first. He still looks after you from time to time, helping you in secret if you have ever been in trouble and it surprised him when you approached his table shyly, asking to be friends.

And so Hyunjin agreed.

But when she started to remember a little bit from her past life, Hyunjin knew it was time for him to flee. He couldn't risk you remembering him. As much as he hated to leave, Hyunjin knew it was for the best.

For 40 years, he lived alone, far away from your city. He suppressed his desire to see you, to know if you're doing good, to find out if you got over him.

Until one day, he couldn't take it anymore. So he went back to your city, just to watch you from afar. Seeing you after all these years, still smiling brightly while running the little cafe, made him feel relieved to see you doing so well without him.

He was surprised to find out you still didn't get married yet, like your other past life. Until he found out you were still waiting for him and you already knew the fact about him being immortal.

Turned out, Hyunjin stupidly left his sketchbook, the one where he keeps all his sketches of Y/N from her different life after their last encounter together. And it seems like she pieced it together to form a conclusion that he's immortal.

And so Hyunjin decided to come back. This time, to stay until your very last breath.

The bell on the door chimed merrily as someone stepped inside the cafe. You picked up your head from the old cash register, smiling at the person in front of you.

His presence, as always, drew people in to look at him, gaping at his figure. Even after 40 years, he still had that dazzling smile on his face.

"You didn't change much, Hyunjin." "And you aged beautifully, Y/N"

You chuckled slowly, shaking your head as tears collected at the brim of your eyes. Hyunjin helped you to get out from the counter, his hand gripping yours tightly.

"I may be old but I'm not fragile yet."

You mumbled as Hyunjin fussed over you, asking if you were comfortable. You sighed, smiling, a bit amused at his antics. You pulled his hand to sit next to you. Smiling, he held your hand tenderly, as your tears once again flooded the brim of your eyes.

"I missed you."

As the noises from the background faded into silence, you focused solely on Hyunjin as he did the same, the feeling of longing evaporated as you both basked in each other's presence, letting out the yearning for each other.

"Me too, Hyunjin. Me too."

Hyunjin took one last look at the graveyard, focusing on your tomb. He watched as your close ones went back along with him. His mind flew back to the last conversation you had with him yesterday before you passed away in your sleep.

"I'll try to remember you in my next life."

Hyunjin smiled as he fixed your blanket gently, patting your hand. You smiled back as his hand intertwined both of your hands together.

"Don't bother, Y/N. It's never gonna work."

You chuckled but it was quickly cut off with a cough. Hyunjin quickly handed her some water as he helped her sit up on the bed. You waved his hand away as the cough subsided, shaking your head.

"We just need a miracle, Hyunjin. If I can remember you after our last encounter 40 years ago, why won't I remember the next time we meet?"

You reached out to your nightstand and took out his sketchbook, handing it to him. Hyunjin reluctantly accepted it, feeling a bit lost.

"If you show me that sketchbook in my next life, I'm sure I'll remember. After all, I won't forget the person who draws me so beautifully like that."

You chuckled as Hyunjin flipped through the pages. He nodded.

"Now let's get you to sleep. It's late."

That night, Hyunjin drew you while you were sleeping peacefully with a smile on your face as you breathed your last air.

He gripped the sketchbook tightly in his grasp, willing himself not to cry. He let out a watery smile as he walked away from the graveyard, promising himself to do what you told him to do before.

Except, you were never reborn.